Monica Duldulao, cocktail server at Rhumbar at The Mirage, didn’t break into the hospitality industry in regular fashion. There were no résumés sent out to prospective employers or searching the want ads; it went a bit differently.
While working on her UNLV hospitality degree, she, like many of her fellow students, was required to participate in a mock interview. However, the interviews were conducted by actual Las Vegas hotel executives. “It was just for practice,” she said. “Usually no one gets hired during the mock interview process.” But by the time Duldulao was finished, she was offered a job, and that’s how she broke into the industry.
While she’s worked at various venues since that first job, Duldulao has found a perfect fit with Rhumbar, and is celebrating more than four years with the lounge. “Everybody here is like family to me,” she said. “I love this place. I would even hang out here if I wasn’t working.”
But while on the clock, Duldulao helps to oversee the guests on the patio. “I like to make sure that everyone is pleased with the ambience, with the surroundings,” she said. That includes everything from serving the guests one of Rhumbar’s great specialty cocktails or setting a group up with hookahs or cigars to providing guests with great conversation.
“You can come here and relax and have a delicious cocktail,” she said. “We have great DJs. You can dance or you can just chill. It’s just an all-around great package.”
Spicy Lover
Spicy Lover
Surely, you can’t come to Rhumbar without trying at least one drink from the classic cocktail menu. The recipes on this menu are sure to get two thumbs up (and perhaps a second order). Always a popular pick, and rightly so, is the Spicy Lover. It mixes 1800 Tequila Reserva Silver, muddled cucumber, cilantro and green and red Tabasco with fresh-squeezed lime juice, sweet agave nectar and green Chartreuse. It’s immediately refreshing, light and sweet—the slight kick and spicy finish complete each sip. It’s a flavor parade in a glass.
